In a Tickle
by Weavillain
Summary: Lincoln accidentally stumbles across the perfect way to get Ronnie Anne to cheer up. Sequel to "Below the Belt". (Lincoln x Ronnie Anne)


**A/N:** Thank God one of my New Year's resolutions wasn't to stop making Ronniecoln fanfictions. Otherwise, I'd feel like a pretty big failure right now.

Eh, who am I kidding? I still wouldn't feel like a failure. Why would I? Ronniecoln is awesome and adorable. Or…"adoresome*", as I like to call it.

 _*Original Synonym, Do Not Steal_

* * *

Lincoln Loud was in quite the bind this time around.

It was no secret that his girlfriend, Ronnie Anne Santiago, could be belligerent, peevish, and downright objectionable whenever she was angry, especially when he was the primary source of her ire. Thankfully, Lincoln was known for being both resourceful and empathetic, two characteristics that, when used in conjunction, resulted in him finding a solution that quelled her temper and mended any crevices and rifts that her vexation would cause, mostly unintentionally.

However, a moody, depressed Ronnie Anne was not something that Lincoln knew how to handle, especially when they hung out together and her disposition put a strain on the amicable atmosphere that their get-togethers would create. It wasn't so much that the emotions themselves were the cause of Lincoln's ineffectiveness but rather the _reason_ behind them.

Whenever Ronnie Anne was indignant and furious, there was at least an understandable cause, which made Lincoln's attempts at restoring her good mood a surmountable endeavor.

A completely glum and downcast Ronnie Anne, however, always came about because of something that was…rather inconsequential, at least in Lincoln's humble opinion.

There was the time that she refused to come out of a bad funk for nearly two days because her third-favorite brand of soda got discontinued.

There was also the instance when she didn't smile for the entire day because for her midterm biology project, she learned that she was paired up with the smartest student in her biology class; something she resented because that student's teacher's pet mentality got on her nerves.

And just last week, she was bummed out and sulking in her house all weekend because her prized skateboard got a scratch(a rather microscopic one in Lincoln's objective estimation) on one of the front wheels.

Sure, Lincoln could see why someone would be slightly perturbed by those events but for Ronnie Anne, it was all about going big or going home and apparently, that didn't stop at melodramatic responses to minor inconveniences.

So, what was Lincoln to do now that he and Ronnie Anne were in his living room, sitting on the sofa and watching television, when she was bogged down by her sullen demeanor? It was especially taxing for him because they were home alone without anyone to barge in on their alone time; his parents had taken his younger sisters out for a fun afternoon at Dairy Land but rather than join them, Lincoln used this opportunity to initiate this casual "date" with his girlfriend, something that he remembered her unenthusiastically agreeing to over the phone after his parents gave him permission(with the jovial warning that he better not make them grandparents while they were gone).

He didn't bother trying to get answers for why she was so crestfallen, knowing that he would either get a weary grunt and a mumble of "It's nothin'" or he'd actually get the answer but have no clue on how to solve her "dilemma" after being put on the spot by his conscience to do _something_ to help the poor girl.

Lincoln looked down at Ronnie Anne, who was leaning against his side and resting her head against his shoulder as his arm wrapped around her shoulders, staring blankly at the television screen as a reel of commercials whizzed by. It had been two hours now and besides breaking that expression momentarily to engage in a smattering of listless small-talk, mostly on her end, she had been like that ever since she came over.

Lincoln had no idea what to do but he was hoping that he'd fine the answer soon. He hated seeing Ronnie Anne like this. Why, just a few weeks ago, he remembered when she was the opposite of how she was behaving now and it was much like her usual self; cocky, passionate, fiery, confident. It was quite the experience for them both; he would never imagine reading comic books by himself in the same light as with her very pleasing company and Lincoln was grateful that her brain had cooked up their newfound ritual that they hadn't done since it took place since Lincoln couldn't find any opportunities to do it without anyone accidentally barging in on them…

' _But we're alone now,'_ Lincoln thought brazenly with a tiny smirk on his face. _'Who's to say we can't do that again?'_

Tapping Ronnie Anne on the shoulder, Lincoln waited for her to look up at him. Once she did so, he asked in a husky voice, "Say, Ronnie Anne? If watching TV's not doing it for you, how about we go upstairs to my room so we can…y'know, continue with where we left on when you decided to make comic book reading at least five times as fun as before, huh?"

Ronnie Anne sighed. "Naw. Maybe another day or whatever."

With that, she turned her dulled gaze back to the TV, completely missing the comical way that Lincoln's face scrunched up from disappointment and from having his pride wounded. With a sigh of his own soon afterwards, Lincoln surrendered to the unfortunate circumstances that had befallen them both, deciding to simply watch TV with Ronnie Anne without another word. He looked up at the TV and found yet another episode of one of their favorite nostalgic cartoons, "Ben & Wimpy", playing. Since it was an episode that he had seen at least a million times before, and since Ronnie Anne didn't seem like she cared about what they were watching anyways, Lincoln decided to reach for the remote that was on his far right, hoping to change the channel.

Not wanting to leave Ronnie Anne's side, rather than walk up to grab it from the other end of the couch, Lincoln decided to lean over to get it, stretching out his arm as his body inched closer to his objective. Once he was a little over halfway, though, his ears picked up on a rather peculiar noise.

Snickering. Albeit, it was stifled and soft but Lincoln knew snickering when he heard it. And given that _he_ certainly hadn't snickered, the only possible outcome was that Ronnie Anne had done it. Turning around, he looked back at her and found her looking as sulky as ever.

That was odd. Perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him? Or maybe Lucy had accidentally allowed a specter to enter the realm of the living(again!) and it was apparently having a good time messing with him.

Deciding not to think about it, Lincoln shrugged and turned around to continue his grab for the remote. Not even a second went past before he heard it again, this time a little more pronounced.

He looked back to her and once more, saw Ronnie Anne indifferently staring at the TV despite the hijinks that were happening on the screen. With that observation, Lincoln knew that it couldn't have been because of what she was watching. But if it wasn't because of the cartoon, what could it possibly be about? Was it something _he_ did? Something she was thinking about?

Instead of turning his attention back to the remote, Lincoln gave Ronnie Anne a good look for about thirty seconds and when he found no changes to her unflinching gloomy face, sighed and gave up trying to look for answers…

…until he spotted his hand, that had shifted from where it was since he went to reach for the remote, resting lightly against the side of Ronnie Anne's neck.

A thought came across Lincoln's mind at the revelation.

' _Surely…that can't be it? Can it?'_

With a slight brush of his fingertips, Lincoln swept them soft across her skin, eliciting the same snickering noise from earlier, which he could plainly see was coming from her, along with the slightest twitch of her lips into a smile. He did it again, only this time, longer and languidly, making Ronnie Anne squirm and giggle heartily.

Lincoln smiled at the sight, awash with satisfaction that such a simple gesture was finally breaking her forlorn state of mind.

Returning to his original spot on the sofa, right next to his girlfriend, Lincoln used two hands this time, lightly fiddling them on either side of her neck and making Ronnie Anne howl with laughter as she tried in vain to squirm away from him.

"L-Linc-ahahahahaha! Cu…cut it ou-ahahahahahahaha!"

Her weak protests fell on deaf ears; Lincoln was having far too much fun with himself and by the looks of things, Ronnie Anne was, too.

By now, his tickling fingers were attacking her ribs through the fabric of her purple T-shirt, leaving her in a hysteric mess as she splayed out on the couch helplessly, completely at Lincoln's mercy as he hunched over her to get a better angle.

Next came her armpits, which really got her reeling as she flopped off the couch and gently onto the floor, laughing all the way as Lincoln hadn't missed a beat, not relenting on his assault even after she left the couch.

The pits of her knees were next, which were quite easy to get to after Ronnie Anne flipped over as she literally rolled on the floor laughing. Her fists pounded against the carpet as her laughter, along with her wheezed, half-hearted pleas for mercy, filled the air.

Finally, after about a good three minutes of relentless tickling, Lincoln stopped, not wanting to overstay his welcome and have Ronnie Anne pummel him for going too far. He sat back and waited for his girlfriend to recover, taking in her flushed face, wide grin, and heaving chest as she sucked in much needed breath back in her lungs.

"Feel better?" Lincoln asked as Ronnie Anne's laughter petered out.

"Y-yeah," she responded somewhat shakily. "Thanks, Lincoln. I really needed that."

Lincoln swelled with pride. He didn't know what had caused her foul mood and he didn't care to find out. Whatever it was, he had a feeling it wasn't that big a deal anyways, since she still came over to see him. And really, the fact that he was ignorant to her "crisis", yet managed to uplift her spirits, made his success all the more gratifying.

"Oh, and Lincoln?" Ronnie Anne spoke out to him, prompting him to turn around and almost swoon at the flirtatious grin she had on her face.

"Uh huh?" Lincoln replied with a tiny blush on his face, knowing what that salacious look meant. Flashbacks of that fateful afternoon with "Ace Saavy vs. The Purple Purloiner" Issue #2 played in his head, which were focused on the memory of that grin before she dived in and…

"Now that you mention it, I kinda like the idea of you and I spending some 'quality time' in your room with your dorky picture books. Only this time, how's about you and I reverse roles? I read and you…well, you get the idea."

Not needing to be told twice to get ready, Lincoln made a dash for his room, calling back to Ronnie Anne that she wouldn't be disappointed.

Ronnie Anne chuckled at his enthusiasm as she got off the floor and made her way slowly up the stairs to meet up with him, reveling in the idea of making him wait in anticipation as slowly but surely approached his bedroom.

By the time she was at his closed bedroom door, the memory of her annoyance, that had been pestering her since yesterday evening, was long gone.

Who cared about missing coupons for _Gus' Games and Grub_ now? Even though she had meant to use them so she and Lincoln could share a large pepperoni pizza at a discounted price, that didn't matter now; he was going to be stuffing his face in a matter of moments anyways.

* * *

 **A/N:** But seriously, people, never use tickling to try and resolve someone's angst. Y'know, unless you like getting donkey kicked in the face from your victim's spastic limb flailing.

One of these days, I have to make these grown-up Ronniecoln fanfics _not_ end with them about to or planning on getting frisky. Someday…but obviously not today. :P


End file.
